Blog Posts

There's Gonna Be Fireworks...

Steilacoom Fireworks. Photo courtesy Dwaine Trummert. Summer is here! I've attached an Indepence...

Lucky Number Seven

A quick recap regarding the completed Spring Series is in order before the glowing report about...

Portsmouth/Laser Race One Report

Lasers (and a Finn) on Parade. Photo courtesy Jim Findley. I hope everyone had as much fun...

Seattle Thistles - Racing report for May 11

After a sunny, sort of lazing-around race last Wednesday, we were back to torrential rain,...

Seattle Thistles - Racing report for May 4 2011

Finally some sunshine and warm temps, though a little more wind would have been pleasant. Lots...

Seattle Thistles - Racing report for Apr 27 2011

Okay, we're unfortunately heading in the wrong direction, season-wise. The first week of racing...

Perfect Practice

While unrigging my boat I think back on what we learned and admire this view. The last three...

Seattle Thistles - Racing report for Apr 20 2011

Okay, we're supposed to race in the northerly on _sunny_ days, you know, warm summer days when...

Awesome first night of racing for Seattle Thistles in 2011!

Race report for CYC Lake Washington Wednesday Night Thistles: April 13, 2011 Ten boats...

Tiller Time

Beach Boats seen recently at the Dead Man's Island 360 Laser distance race. Just two bits...

Here Comes the Sailing Season

Here Comes the Sun Summer can't be too far away can it? When will we see the sun again? I...

Something Good is Happening

The Budd Inlet One Design fleet has taken another step forward. Although at least one attendee...

Olympia Area Sailors Speak

The view from Tugboat Annies while sipping a post race beer. It's hard to tell if Budd Inlet...

Seattle Thistle Fleet 2010 Retrospective

At the fleet party and meeting in December, I was elected fleet captain for 2011. Before looking...

Is Budd Inlet Ready for a One-Design Dinghy Fleet?

As an excuse to enjoy a few warm sunny days I found an assignment at U.S. Sailing's One Design...

Teamwork

Sailing season is over. It happens every fall, but not because of the change in weather, but...

On Not Being Shipwrecked

  Doug and I have been racing small sailboats on and off together for about twelve years,...

Video blog: Thistle 3957 Lake Washington Seattle July 28 2010 Race 2 part 1 of 2

Part 1 of 2. This video starts about 1 minute before the start of the second race on 7/28/10,...

Video blog: Thistle 3957 Lake Washington Seattle July 28 2010 Race 2 part 2 of 2

Part 2 of 2.  This segment picks up just as we're about to round the windward mark. Michael...

Good Crew, Bad Crew

Maybe as a way to say 'Thanks', the BISF regulars have agreed to hold a 'Crew Race' on certain...

Almost

Yep. Almost. We almost looked brilliant. We had almost as much speed as the other guy. A podium...

How to Race a J24 Video Homework

I spend the last few months studying out how to race a J24. There are lots of videos on YouTube...

Introduction, Thistles and J24s

MouseTrap Tied Up I’ve been racing a Thistle for more than 10 years now. This year I’ve...

Ping

My arrival to the marina included a surprise. Breeze. I hadn't taken the time to check Windtrak...

Ken Lane 3995 Wins Leschi Thistle Spring Series

The Leschi spring series ended the way it began, with a sunny northerly 8-12. Happily, it was...

Monday Night Kick Off on Budd Inlet

The Budd Inlet Star Fleet Monday evening racing season has officially begun. Andy, who has...

Black Star Regatta Day 2

Day two of the Black Star Regatta started with bright sun and a forecast for little or no wind. ...

Welcome to the Star Boat

The Budd Inlet Star Fleet hosted their first regatta of the year on the last weekend of April....

Leschi Spring Series 2010 May 5

The NWS forecast was for north 10 knots, but it rained off an on during the day and the temp...

Leschi Spring Series 2010 April 28

With ominous clouds and rain showers all about, the Thistle fleet somehow managed to stay dry...

Leschi Spring Series April 21 No Wind, Team Photo

  No wind tonight, so no racing. After a lot of rain this morning, the  skies cleared...

Thistle Racing Leschi April 14 Season Opener

Only five boats showed up for opening night, but those that did (3703, 3994, 3957, 3940, 3785)...

3 Best Laser Sailing Blogs on the Planet

I follow quite a few blogs by other Laser sailors. One thing I have noticed is that I don't...

Mount Hope Bay Sunset

The Tillercottage looks out over Mount Hope Bay, the north-eastern arm of Narragansett Bay....

Icebreaker Part 2 Instructions

The sailing instructions for the Icebreaker Part 2 Regatta can now be found on this website...

Inevitable Clinches Series at Stingray Point Regatta

The Fleet 15 update includes an article on the just-concluded Stingray Point Regatta, results...

Sailing and Luck

How large a role does luck play in sailboat racing? Are some people luckier than others? ...

Summer Newsletter

Members will receive the Summer edition of the J/105 newsletter via e-mail. It is also posted...

Annapolis Race Week

17 J/105s competed in Annapolis Race Week over the holiday weekend. Jackson Biddle's Rum...

When I Grow Up...

Vineyard Race

Three J/105s competed in three different divisions in this weekend's Vineyard Race, with...

Building a Catamaran

Today is American Labor Day which celebrates the contributions of workers. What better way...

Zefira

Looking for Mermaids

Marmite - Superfood

They said I was crazy. Just because I have been extolling the many benefits of Marmite on...

The (less) strange case of the (non)competitor

In response to my post about the (non) competitor, I received a mail from Lynne in Canada....

Betrayed!

Our family vacation on Cape Cod last month was wonderful... except for one thing.  ...

LTW Readers Q&A (62): Backwards

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New England PHRF Championship

The New England PHRF Championships were held this past weekend off the Marblehead and Salem...

Under the Boat

"Now then, said Christopher Robin, "Where's your boat?" "I ought to say," explained Pooh as...

Pornic Offshore Race

In the beginning of August, the sailors of Pornic look forward to their annual race over to...

EYC Levels Regatta

Sailed over the August 25-26 weekend, the Etobicoke Yacht Club along the Toronto shoreline...

Arbitrage Wins J/105s at Summer Invitational

Winds blew 18-24 knots on the Berkeley Circle at the San Francisco Yacht Club's Summer...

3 Words

I went out for some solo practice on my Laser in Bristol today. I can sum up the experience...

I Talk to Invisible People

Why is everyone making so much fuss about how that old geezer with the scary hair at the Republican...

Get Off My Lawn

Learning

How do you learn? How do you improve your sailing? How do you fix the faults in your technique?...

The strange case of the (non)competitor

During a multi-class event locally, the PC came across a very strange case. I've changed names,...

Revised Documents

Revised Distances and Magnetic Headings chart and Revised Tuesday Starting Sequence have...

Dirt

Doug is one of the best Laser Masters sailors in the world. /Pam is married to Doug. (I don't...

SDYC

Check out this historic video about the San Diego Yacht Club--this year's host of the...

I Yam What I Yam

Tiller Extensions

Bridge to Bridge

J/105 Free Bowl of Soup took part in the Bridge to Bridge race from Astoria, OR to Newport,...

One Giant Leap For Mankind

Perhaps the most inspiring story for me during my teenage and college years was that of the...

Growth of Fleet 16

J/105s are taking over the Fort Worth/Dallas sailing scene. Working well with Fleet 17 out...

Board of Directors Open Call

Our Club depends on volunteers to make things run smoothly, so if you have not given this much...

Mr. Cool

Somebody... somebody whom I may be related to on account of some legal ceremony back in 1973......

New Jersey Stereotypes

I used to live in New Jersey. It doesn't suck. But many people have false stereotypes about...

Crispy Bacon

At the Buzzards Bay Regatta a couple of weeks ago there was one Laser with the name CRIS P...

People Say I'm Crazy

People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing,  Well they give me all kinds of warnings to...

Tight racing at 2012 NAs

Sixteen J109s battled it out at the North American Championships, held last month during Race...

Sailing Philosophy with Crappy Chart

At the Buzzards Bay Regatta a couple of weeks ago, I realized that I have evolved into a new...

Last Chance Regatta

Registration is now open for the Last Chance Regatta. This event traditionally wraps up the...

Is It Really About The Money?

Dean Brenner, the outgoing chair of the US Sailing Olympic Committee, has been remarkably brave...

Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound Annual Regatta

The Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound 2012 Annual Regatta for the Dorade Trophy...

Tiverton Bike RIde

Is it frostbiting season already?

Granddad - We've Run Aground

New Owner Dennis Conner Enters J/105 North American Championship

The J/105 Class has a new boat owner that maybe you've heard of-Dennis Conner-who was...

Verve Cup

At the Chicago Yacht Club Verve Cup, day one was cancelled due to 10-12 foot waves and 30 knots...

Lakewood Yacht Club Bay Cup II

Lakewood Yacht Club's second Bay Cup race saw two J/105s battle it out against two J/109s,...

The Road Not Taken

After the dismal performance of the US Sailing Team Sperry-Topsider at the Olympics this year...

When I'm 64

At the Buzzards Bay Regatta last weekend, the vast majority of the other Laser sailors were...

Unusually Usual

You know what they usually say when you go to some new location for a sailing regatta - "The...

Monhegan Island Race

Racers started last Friday the 104.2nm Monhegan Island Race in 7-plus knots of winds which...

Diablo-J Wins RORC Channel Race

The fastest boats covered the 145nm RORC Channel Race in just over 26 hours. In IRC Three and...

Revised Race Course Chart Posted

A revised race course chart has been posted to this website. It is effective immediately for...

Icebreaker Part 2

The BHSC is happy to announce a new regatta on the schedule, Ice Breaker Part 2. This event...

Pre-start Tactics

From areggio's channel on YouTube. According to a comment posted on YouTube with the video,...

"A Heck of a Wake-up Call"

Number of medals won by USA at Olympic Games/ number of sailing events. 1948 Torquay  ...

Owen

Grandson Owen Two years old Son of a son of a blogger

China Rising

2008 - Olympic gold medal in Laser Radials - USA 2012 - Olympic gold medal in Laser Radials...

Laser Cookie

While I was out sailing on Saturday, my 6-year-old granddaughter Emily made a batch of cookies,...

Pigeon Toed

Thanks to Doug of Improper Course for this overhead shot of Tom Slingsby sailing to Olympic...

Mr. Happy

Sam Chapin wrote a blog post a few weeks ago, Laser Sailors Look For Happiness, in which...

Moth Guide

I love reading Simon Payne's blog. He has such a wicked turn of phrase and a dry British sense...

Kattack Android app

Kattack has released v1.1 of the Android app that fixes the time problem that resulted in a...

Buzzards Bay Regatta 2012

Three days of Laser racing on Buzzards Bay... Racing against lots of kids. Beating some of...

Aldo Allesio Regatta

The J/105 fleet fielded 16 teams at one of the long-standing St. Francis YC trophy regattas...

Youngstown Level Regatta

For the past decade, the Youngstown YC in New York has hosted the popular Level Regatta for...

Santa Barbara-King Harbor Race

The Santa Barbara-King Harbor distance race that spans 81 nm has been a tradition for Santa...

Fiesta Cup Regatta

During the third weekend of July, Santa Barbara gears up for the Old Spanish Days Fiesta that...

Ugotta Regatta

The J/105s saw some great racing in the Friday One-Design and weekend Ugotta Regatta sailing....

Edgy, Aggressive and Unique in Style

On Wednesday afternoon a friend and I went for a sail from Bristol Harbor in our Lasers. It...

2012 J22 Drifter Recap

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012J22 Tuesday Night2012 J22 Drifter Race Recap 0828J22 FleetSailed:...

2012 J22 Drifter 3 (8/28/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012J22 Tuesday Night2012 J22 Drifter Race 08280828A - J22 FleetStart:...

2012 J22 Drifter 2 (8/21/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012J22 Tuesday Night2012 J22 Drifter Race 08210821A - J22 FleetStart:...

2012 J22 Drifter 1 (8/14/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012J22 Tuesday Night2012 J22 Drifter Race 08140814A - J22 FleetStart:...

2012 China Light Fleet Championship

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012China Light Tuesday NightChina Light Overall Recap as of 0904CLM1...

2012 China Light Drifter Recap

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012China Light Tuesday NightChina Light Drifter Series Recap 0828CLM1...

2012 China Light Drifter Race 3 (8/28/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012China Light Tuesday NightChina Light Drifter Race 08280828...

2012 China Light Drifter Race 2 (8/21/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012China Light Tuesday NightChina Light Drifter Race 08210821...

2012 China Light Drifter Race 1 (8/14/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012China Light Tuesday NightChina Light Drifter Race 08140814...

2012 Drifter Recap

Buffalo Harbor Sailing ClubBuffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012Drifter Series RecapM1 FleetSailed:...

2012 Drifter Race 4 (9/5/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing ClubBuffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012Drifter Series Race 09050905 - M1...

2012 Drifter Race 3 (8/29/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing ClubBuffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012Drifter Series Race 08290829 - M1...

2012 Drifter Race 2 (8/22/12)

Buffalo Harbor Sailing ClubBuffalo Harbor Sailing Club 2012Drifter Series Race 08220822 - M1...